Capacity of sawmills and carpentry workshops for processing lesser used species in Ghana

Abstract

In Ghana, the exploitation of timber is limited to a few of the over 300 known species. Majority of the species are not being utilized because their properties (including physical, mechanical and machining properties) are not known. Due to this, sawmills hardly process these lesser used species. To avoid the overexploitation of commercially known species the use of lesser known ones is inevitable. The objective of the study was to assess the capacity of the sawmills and carpentry workshops in terms of their machinery to process lesser used timber species for efficient utilization. Eight (8) of the sawmills in Kumas i, Ghana were randomly selected and questionnaires were administered and interviews conducted. Forty-jive (45) carpenters granted interview and responded to questionnaires that were administered. The sawmills have the needed cutting and processing machinery for producing lumber from commercially known species but not the lesser known ones. Some sawmills expressed difficulty in sawing some lesser used timber species due to their extreme hardness and smaller diameter sizes even though they possess adequate strength for utilization. Most of the carpentry workshops (60%) use only simple hand tools for processing which makes the utilization of these lesser known species in construction very difficult. The use of advanced technology and efficient processing techniques need to be encouraged for the processing of these species. This will ensure efficient utilization in order to reduce the overexploitation of the commercial (traditional) timber species.

Full text

Capacity of sawmills and carpentry workshops for processing LUS in Ghana E. Appiah-Kubi et al.
CAPACITY OF SAWMILLS AND CARPENTRY WORKSHOPS FOR
PROCESSING LESSER USED SPECIES IN GHANA
E. Appiah-Kubi', M. Adom-Asamoah/, K. Frimpong-Mensah'' and S. L. Tekpetey'
lCSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University Post Office Box UP 63, KNUST, Kumasi Ghana
2Department of Civil Engineering, KNUST, Kumasi Ghana
3Department of Wood Science and Technology, KNUST, Kumasi Ghana
ABSTRACT
In Ghana, the exploitation of timber is limited to a few of the over 300 known species. Majority of the
species are not being utilized because their properties (including physical, mechanical and machining
properties) are not known. Due to this, sawmills hardly process these lesser used species. To avoid the
overexploitation of commercially known species the use of lesser known ones is inevitable. The objective
of the study was to assess the capacity of the sawmills and carpentry workshops in terms of their
machinery to process lesser used timber species for efficient utilization. Eight (8) of the sawmills in
Kumas
i,
Ghana were randomly selected and questionnaires were administered and interviews conducted.
Forty-jive (45) carpenters granted interview and responded to questionnaires that were administered.
The sawmills have the needed cutting and processing machinery for producing lumber from commercially
known species but not the lesser known ones. Some sawmills expressed difficulty in sawing some lesser
used timber species due to their extreme hardness and smaller diameter sizes even though they possess
adequate strength for utilization. Most of the carpentry workshops (60%) use only simple hand tools for
processing which makes the utilization of these lesser known species in construction very difficult. The
use of advanced technology and efficient processing techniques need to be encouraged for the processing
of these species. This will ensure efficient utilization in order to reduce the overexploitation of the
commercial (traditional) timber species.
Keywords: sawmills, carpentries, processing, lesser used species, timber
INTRODUCTION
Majority of the tree species in Ghana are not being
utilized because most of their properties are not
known. The exploitation of timber is limited to a
few of the over 300 known species. Until now less
than about 100 tree species are seriously
commercially utilized and the rest unexploited
(Ayarkwa, 2009). There are a number of timber
companies, which produce timber to the required
sizes in commercial quantities (Baiden et al.,
2005) but most of them hardly process the lesser
used species.
Within the framework of timber as a construction
material, a distinction is made between primary or
commercially accepted species and lesser known
or less accepted species. For several reasons,. the
use of timber in construction in recent times is
dependent on lesser known timber species rather
than commercially accepted species. Freezaillah
(1990) defines Lesser-known species (LKS) as a
commercially less accepted species left in the
forest after a logging operation. But, as stated by
Hansom (1983), a better definition is that it is a
species that is not being put to best advantage
(although many commercial species are not being
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Capacityof sawmills and carpentry workshops for processing LUS in Ghana E. Appiah-Kubi et at.
put to best advantage either). The list of usable
species has lengthened to some extent because of
advances in technology and promotion and
because of a growing scarcity of the more desired
species. There has been considerable discussion
about the fuller utilization of tropical forests with
particular reference to the LKS, but the problem
has remained intractable and little has been done
(Freezaillah, 1990). Eddowes (1990), in discussing
the technical aspects of promoting the LKS in
Papua New Guinea, identified inadequate data on
physical and mechanical properties as one of the
main problems in promoting the LKS.
Another factor that contributes to the promotion of
LKS and lesser used species is the capacity of
sawmills or carpentry workshops to process these
species.
It
is important to stress that the term lesser-known
timber species does not connote inferiority; many
lesser-known timber species have as yet not been
characterized and may as well be comparable to
the commercial species (Jayanetti, 1998). The
definition of LKS is dynamic and the status of a
species may change with time.
According to Oteng-Amoako (2006), the
availability of LKS in the forest varies, usually
from frequent to sparse, and data on their
technological properties are limited. The LKS are
mostly lower-risk species which can be exploited
under normal forest harvesting practice. To avoid
the overexploitation of commercially known
species the use of lesser known ones is inevitable.
The use of lesser used species for construction
therefore require an assessment of the state of the
sawmill industries and their readiness to process
these species. The Timber Industry Development
Division (TIDD) of the Forestry Commission of
Ghana has norms and regulations for sawmill
operation (TIDD, 1998). An important regulation
is to have the necessary machinery before one can
apply for a permit to operate a sawmill. Moreover,
sawmills can either apply for a working area to
obtain the logs from, buy from loggers or do both.
Smaller mills produce timber for the local market
but sawmills which produce largely for export are
required to produce 20% for the local market and
are expected to submit documents to prove this.
The objective of the study was therefore to assess
the capacity of the sawmills and carpentry
workshops in terms of their machinery to process
lesser used timber species for efficient utilization.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted in the Kumasi (6° 54'N
1°35'E) metropolis which has a proportionately
large number of timber processing firms in Ghana.
The sawmills in Kumasi which are largely into the
export of wood products were sampled for the
study. Twelve sawmills in Kumasi were sampled
out of which four had closed down due to
operational difficulties. Eight of the Sawmills
responded to the questionnaire administered and
also granted interviews. The Sawmills include
Kumi and Company Limited, Modem Wood
Technology Limited, Naja David Veneer and
Plywood Limited, Logs and Lumber Limited,
Sunstex Company Limited, Logwood Industries
Limited, AG Timber Limited and Ridge Timber
Company Limited. Most of them produce lumber
and other wood products mainly for export.
Several carpentry shops and carpenters were
visited in Kumasi to ascertain their capacity in
working with the lesser used species. Forty-five
(45) carpenters were sampled for the study. A
multiple research approach involving the
administration of structured questionnaire and
semi-structured interviews was used in the study.
A qualitative analysis was adopted for the research
and the results presented in tables and graphs.
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Capacity of sawmills and carpentry workshops for processing LUS in Ghana E. Appiah-Kubi et al.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Capacity of Sawmills
The responses of the eight sawmills on the type of
machinery used in processing of wood are
presented in Table I. Table 1 shows that all the 8
sawmills have the various cutting and processing
machinery such as band mills, cross cut saws,
edgers, planners, moulders etc. Three of the
sawmills which represent 37.5% have log
transporting machines such as ·cranes, lifts, and
forklifts. Only two (25%) of the sawmills have
kiln dryers. The others without kiln dryers season
their wood at the sawmills with kiln dryers at a fee
otherwise, they do only air drying. The lack of
kiln dryers in most of the sawmills affect their
production capacity since they have to wait for
longer periods to air-dry or pay huge sums for
kiln-drying their wood in other sawmills before
delivery to clients. Seventy-five percent (75%) of
the sawmills have used their machinery for over
10 years and 25% of them had used
their
machinery between 5 and 10 years (Figure 1).
None of the sawmills visited had a processing
machine purchased within the last five years. The
sawmills also indicated that most of their
machines were purchased brand new. Five of the
sawmills (62.5%) indicated that their machines
hardly breakdown (yearly or over) and on~y one
Table 1: Type of machinery used by Sawmills
(1) sawmill indicated that their machines
breakdown very often (daily or weekly) causing
delays in meeting contract deadlines (Table 2).
Although most of the machines are old, they
hardly breakdown. This may be the reason why
most of the machines had been in use for over 10
years without replacement (Figure 1). Also about
87.5 % of the sawmills indicated that spare parts
for repairs and maintenance of their machinery are
available locally. All the sawmills also mentioned'
that they have a maintenance department which
are constantly checking on the machines. All the
eight sawmills (100%) responded that they
produce lumber for the local market. They gave
reasons as indicated above (Table 3). Five (62.5%)
of them said they produce for the local market
because it is a regulation from the Timber Industry
Development Division of the Forestry
Commission of Ghana. Twenty-five percent (25%)
said they process for the local market because it is
easy and inexpensive to deliver products to the
local market compared to the export market. One
sawmill indicated that the local market is a readily
available market even if there are no foreign
contracts. The results above indicate that the
sawmills are sending lumber to the local market
because it is a regulation by the Government
(TIDD).
. Machinery No. of sawmills Percentage
Cutting/processing machines
Kiln Dryer
Log transporting machines
8
2
3
100
25
37.5
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Capacity of sawmills and carpentry workshops for processing LUS in Ghana E. Appiah-Kubi et al.
Cl
5-10 yrs
- >lOyrs
Years of usage of machinery
Figure 1: Chart showing years of usage of sawmills' machinery
Table 2: Rate of Breakdown of Machinery
Breakdown of Machines Frequency Percent
(%)
Very often (daily/weekly)
often (monthly)
Not often (3-6 months)
Hardly (yearly or more)
1
1
1
5
12.5
12.5
12.5
62.5
Total
8
100
Table 3: Reasons for processing of lumber for local market
Reasons Frequency Percentage
(%)
Easy transport
Inexpensive handling
TIDD regulation
Ready market
o
2
5
1
o
25
62.5
12.5
Total 8100
Table 4: Reasons for Processing of lumber for export
Reasons Frequency Percentage out of 8 (%)
Foreign exchange 5
Profit 1
Expensive for local market 3
Local market unavailable 3
62.5
12.5
37.5
37.5
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All the sawmills (100%) again indicated that they
produce lumber for export. Five of the sawmills
.(62.5%) produce for the export market because of
the foreign exchange and 37.5% of the sawmills
said their products have low patronage in the local
market. The local market is also not ready to pay
for the high cost of production so the sawmills
export for foreign exchange in order to make
profit. All the sawmills (l00%) indicated that they
produce 50mm x 50mm and 50mm x 100mm sizes
of lumber' for the local market. Only one company.
(12.5%) produce 100mm x 150mm lumber size for
the local market and none of the firms currently
produce 150mm x 150mm and 150mm x 200mm
lumber sizes for structural purposes on the, local
market. The sawmills attributed this to the demand
of the local market. There is no demand for
structural size lumber such as 100mm x 150mm,
150mm x 150mm and 150mm x 200mm so the
sawmills do not produce them. Most of the
sawmills (70%) were processing species such as
Dahoma, Emire, Esia etc. which were lesser used
species and now being used as replacement for the
premium species such as Mi/icia excelsa (Od urn)
and Khaya ivorensis (Mahogany) which are being
overexploited.
Capacity of Carpentry Workshops
Sixty percent (60%) of the carpenters use simple
hand tools such as hammers, chisels, spirit levels,
planes etc. in their workshops while 40% of the
respondents indicated that they use both simple
hand tools and machines such as planners, cross
cut saws, table saws, circular saws etc. This means
that carpenters are more familiar with the use of
simple hand tools than the use of machines and
also their inability to afford some machines.
Twenty-three (51 %) of the respondents indicated
that their machines do not breakdown often. They
usually repair them every 3 - 6 months. Thirteen
(13) carpenters (29%)" .indicated that their
.. •..
machines breakdown often. They repair or replace
some hand tools monthly. However, 20% said
they hardly repair machines or replace tools. They
do such yearly.
Type of Equipment
Table 5: Types of tools and equipment used by carpenters
Frequency Percent(%)
Simple hand tools
Hand tools
&
Machines
27
18
60
40
Total 45
Table 6: Rate of repairs of machines
lOO
Repairs and Replacement Frequency Percent (%)
often (monthly)
Not often (every 3-6 months)
Hardly (yearly or more)
13
23
9
29
51
20
Total 45 100
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Capacity of sawmills and carpentry workshops for processing LUS in Ghana E. Appiah-Kubi et al.
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0+--•..•
42
3
Unavailable
Availability of spare parts for repairs
Figure 2: Chart showing the availability of spare parts for the repair of machinery
Available (locally)
Table 7: Reasons for using sawmill lumber
Reasons 'If Yes
444.4
o
22.3
33.3
o
Guarantee of wood quality and grade
Wood is easy to work with
Client's preference
Others sources are Illegal
Proximity to Sawmill
Frequency Percentage
2
3
Total
9
100
Reasons If No
Table 8: Reasons for not using sawmill lumber
Percentage
Too expensive
Sawmills are far
Bureaucracy and security checks
Difficulty in transport
Frequency
29
2
4
I
80.6
5.6
11
2.8
Total
100
36
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Capacity of sawmills and carpentry workshops for processing LUS in Ghana E. Appiah-Kubi et al.
Forty-two carpenters (93%) indicated that spare
parts for the repairs of machinery are available on
the local market whilst 3 carpenters 7% indicated
the unavailability of spare parts for the repair of
their machinery. All the carpenters also said that
they do not have maintenance departments in their
workshops but usually employ the services of
engineers at Suame Magazine, Kumasi when
breakdowns occur.
Eighty percent (80%) of the carpenters do not
obtain their wood from sawmill. whilst nine (20%)
of them obtain their wood from sawmill. Out of
the nine (9) respondents who obtain their lumber
from sawmill, 44% choose to buy the sawmill
wood because of the guarantee of the wood grade
and quality. This gives them good finish and so
they are able to sell their products at higher prices.
About 33% said it is illegal to obtain lumber from
other sources svch as chain saw operators and
22% obtain their wood from sawmill because
some of their clients prefer sawmill wood (Table
7). The clients insist that they use only wood from
sawmill and such clients are prepared to pay for
higher cost.
Twenty-nine (80.6%) out of the 36 respondents
who do not obtain their wood from the Sawmills
indicated that wood from sawmills are too
expensive (Table 8). Eleven percent (11
%)
of the
respondents do not buy wood from sawmills
because of the bureaucracies at the sawmill and
the several security checks. Before one obtain
wood from a sawmill, you will have toplace an
order and make an advanced payment and provide
proof of registration of your firm. The procedure
is cumbersome and discourages carpenters from
buying wood from sawmills.
Ninety-one percent (91
%)
of the carpenters
indicated their readiness to work on any available
tree species including lesser used timber species.
Only 4 out of the 45 respondents said that they
were not ready to work with other Lesser Used
Species because their products with specific
primary species of wood.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of the carpenters have
had no education while 47% of the carpenters
indicated that they have had education of some
sort. Eighteen (85.7%) of the educated carpenters
had education up to the Junior High School Level.
Two (2) carpenters had education up to Senior
High School Level. None of the respondents have
had education up to the tertiary level.
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The sawmills in the Kumasi Metropolis have the
needed machinery to process lesser used species
for both export and local markets. They indicated
their readiness to process for the local construction
industry if the local customers are ready to pay for
the cost of lumber from the sawmills. Sixty two
point five (62.5%) of the sawmills said that they
produce lumber for the local market only because
it is regulation from the TIDD.
Most of the sawmills (70%) were processing
species such as Dahoma, Emire, Esia etc. which
were lesser used and now being used as
replacement for the premium species such as
Milicia excelsa (Odum) and Khaya ivorensis
(Mahogany) which are being overexploited. They
however expressed difficulty in sawing or
processing the lesser used species. Specific
challenges include the blunting of saw blades and
cutters. This increases the frequency with which
saw blades and cutters are replaced.
Advanced technology and techniques in
processing which are cost effective therefore
needs to be developed for the processing of these
species for efficient utilization in order to reduce
the overexploitation of the commercial
(traditional) timber species.
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Capacity of sawmills and carpentry workshops for processing LUS in Ghana E. Appiah-Kubi et al.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Many thanks to the Swiss Development Agency
(SDC) and the Swiss National Science
Foundation, . for providing financial support for
this study. Appreciation also goes to the directors,
managers and staff of the sawmills and various
carpentry workshops who made their facilities
available and granted interviews for the study.
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J.
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